US executes Louisiana truck driver who killed daughter, 2

[left-of-center2012]

The Trump administration continued its unprecedented series of post-election federal executions Friday by putting to death a Louisiana truck driver who severely abused his 2-year-old daughter for weeks in 2002, then killed her by slamming her head repeatedly against a truck’s windows and dashboard. Alfred Bourgeois, 56, was pronounced dead at 8:21 p.m. Eastern time at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. His lawyers had argued he had an IQ that put him in the intellectually disabled category, saying that should have made him ineligible for the death penalty.

In his last words, Bourgeois, strapped to a gurney, offered no apology and instead struck a deeply defiant tone, insisting that he neither killed nor sexually abused his baby girl. Later, the girl’s relatives of released a joint statement calling Bourgeois “a monster.”
“None of us thought she would return from (visiting Bourgeois) in a casket,” it said. “It should not have taken 18 years to receive justice for our angel.”

Bourgeois’ crimes stood out as for their brutality. According to court filings, he gained temporary custody of the child, referred to in court papers only as “JG,” after a 2002 paternity suit from a Texas woman. He was living in Louisiana with his wife and their two children.

Over the next month, Bourgeois repeatedly whipped the girl with an electrical cord, burned her feet with a cigarette lighter and hit her in the head with a plastic baseball bat — then refused to seek medical treatment for her. Prosecutors said he sexually abused her, too.

It was during a trucking run to Corpus Christi, Texas, that he killed the toddler. Angered that a toilet-training pot tipped over in his truck cabin, he grabbed her inside the truck by her shoulders and slammed her head on the windows and dashboard four times. When she lost consciousness, Bourgeois’ wife pleaded for him to get help and he told her to tell first responders she was hurt falling from the truck. She died the next day in a hospital of brain injuries.

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-us-news-executions-terre-haute-indiana-32f7e296aba11d7d749bb996cffe623b

[orwell]

1. I don't believe in the death penalty...

...but good riddance to this asshole.

[tymorial]

2. I am not a big fan of the death penalty but he tortured and killed a baby

I will sleep just fine over this one.

[smirkymonkey]

27. +1000

This person was a monster. That poor little child. She was only 2 years old. I will not lose any sleep over his death either.

I am generally against the death penalty, but in cases like this, such a person does not deserve to ever have a chance to walk free again. I don't think people like this can ever be rehabilitated.

[dixiechiken1]

3. I struggle with the death penalty...

Except in this case. No struggle at all. Poor baby finally got justice.

[get the red out]

15. Struggle with it too

It is a struggle between my logical moments and my heart, that my heart too often wins for most liberals to accept. Logic tells me that the DP is way too expensive, and that it’s application has a racial element that’s impossible to ignore. My heart can only think of what that baby went through.

If there is a hell, I hope this man burns in it. Another sociopath has left the world, oh well.

[USALiberal]

21. Then you are pro death penalty! Nt

[dixiechiken1]

32. And you are presumptuous! Nt

[trc]

4. After reading the article about this toddler's last days with this guy

I have no problem with his execution. After 18 years I don't think "rush to execute" exactly fits.

[North Shore Chicago]

5. Good riddance!

But what will be the penalty for an orange someone who is the direct/indirect cause of hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths?

RIP sweet little girl

[jmowreader]

30. Unfortunately...

Trump will meet Al Capone's fate: you could open Title 18 of the US Code to any random page and Trump probably committed the crime described thereon, but they'll wind up nailing the bastard for tax evasion because they know it'll work.

[North Shore Chicago]

33. Agreed n/t

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Abolish the death penalty.

[USALiberal]

22. +1000, few countries like us still have it! Nt

[secondwind]

7. As gruesome as this was, America should not execute anyone, especially a person like this man....

who had IQ of 70.....

What does it say about us???

[Fullduplexxx]

9. Just what DOES this say about us .

[obamanut2012]

16. That we are barbaric hypocrites

[USALiberal]

23. I 100% agree! Nt

[Turin_C3PO]

8. As heinous

and brutal as this crime was, the government should not be in the murder business. Life in prison sufficient punishment.

[mokawanis]

10. Abolish the death penalty

[NurseJackie]

11. He's no longer suffering. He's no longer being punished. Death was freedom for him.

Meanwhile, others who have done far less will continue to be punished for far longer.

Go figure.

[vercetti2021]

12. Not for the death penalty

But this one gets a pass from me. Rest in hell

[USALiberal]

24. LOL, Then you are for the death penalty! Nt

[quickesst]

13. An observation

I hear and read about people who do not believe in the death penalty before adding the caveat, "but in this case". I started wondering about how many cases there are out there that would qualify for the "but in this case" caveat, which would, in effect, nullify the declaration of not believing in the death penalty.
To be clear, I am not talking about those who do not believe in the death penalty under any circumstances.
As stated above, this is just an observation.

[obamanut2012]

17. I've always thought that, too

If there's a "but" after that, then you ARE for the DP. Period. It's like being racist: you can't be a little bit racist. You ARE racist.

And yes, I do find equivalency in being for murdering someone (even if that person is a murderer and scum) and being racist. Both are founded in a lack of empathy.

[quickesst]

19. I agree

There are a lot of cases where the death penalty is absolutely justified. I also do not buy the argument that a life sentence is a worse punishment than execution. It is the reason so many defendants and their lawyers go after plea bargains in order to get the death penalty off of the table. Those last hours, minutes, and seconds of a person's life knowing they are about to die is probably the most terrifying experience a person can have. I would venture a guess that it is far more terrifying than having a bed to sleep in, three meals a day, plus the recreation time they receive, and all at the expense of the taxpayer.

[Polybius]

29. Having too much empathy is not good either

I work with a wonderful young woman. She was telling me how the manager is a filthy pervert who talks about his penis and asks to sleep with her, comments on her butt, etc.

I told her to tell the owner, and that I’ll go with her. She was like “I could never, he has a family and I couldn’t live with myself if I was the reason he got fired.” She has so much empathy, even for disgusting human beings like him. This repulses me. I’d show no mercy if it had been me.

[MichMan]

14. How did someone who is intellectually disabled able to be licensed to drive a big truck?

[former9thward]

26. None of that was argued in court until after he was sentenced.

A phoney scam.

[Buckeyeblue]

18. I'm against the death penalty not for the death reason but because our justice system is a mess

The fact that there is a good chance that an innocent person could be put to death makes, in my opinion, the death penalty untenable.

The penalty is also handed out unequally, which is also a problem.

I think a quick execution for a heinous crime is probably more humane than a life locked in a maximum security prison. And let's be honest, a life in prison/death penalty is not a punishment. Punishment implies that some suffer a consequence that they can learn from and be better. Life in prison or execution is just saying you are so fucked up that we can't have you as part of society.

But at least with life in prison, if you are innocent, there is a chance you can gain your freedom.

One last thought: what fucked up court system gave this man custody of the child?

[denbot]

20. Some assholes simply compel any and everyone to bay for vengeance.

The only reason I oppose the death penalty is that if one acquiesces to give the power of life and death to the state over a single individual regardless of how utterly deserving the case may be, we have given the state power of life and death over each and every member of that state.

Now imagine a Trump with unfettered powers, or even worst, a Steven Miller with the organs and mechanisms of the state at his whim..

Vengeance over justice will eventually deny us of both.

[Demsrule86]

25. I do not believe in the death penalty even for such as him...

[Polybius]

28. Good

I hate child torturers and killers.

[USALiberal]

34. But ok with government killers? nt

[Polybius]

35. Sometimes

n/t

[Xolodno]

31. This was a failing of they system that gave him temporary custody.

And his wife who did not intervene.